Commentary on the Gospel of Friday, April 26, 2019

Fr. Johnson Joseph Thurackal CMF

It has not been easy for Jesus to convince his disciples of the truth of his resurrection. It was not easy for the disciples to reconcile to the fact of this strange truth that Jesus would want to them to take to heart. Jesus takes another initiative with his tenderness, warmth of love to present himself to them.

Till today there are hearts struggling to recognise him at the edge one’s ordinary life. Like Peter who is lost and stumbling, there are ears struggling to hear, even dimly, the reassuring voice of the Risen Saviour, “it is I.” Peter who once entrusted his life to his Master leaving behind everything, is now about to take up his grip on his own life again. He is yet to realize that it is only in an ongoing letting go that one returns and possesses fully all that one loses and let go.

In the great catch at the Lake of Tiberias and at the breakfast that followed, Peter profoundly accepted the freedom that the faith in resurrection brought into his life. Peter at this encounter, woken up to a new realization, transformed himself into a new creation, with total freedom to be disciple and to be witness of the resurrection.